The rape and murder conviction of Robert Taylor, one of the men
known as The Dixmoor Five, was vacated in November of 2011. "After
spending almost two decades in jail for a rape and murder he didn't
commit, Robert Taylor, now 34, walked out of an Illinois prison a free
man" (Tarren 2011). The reversal was brought to the forefront by a
long struggle by the Innocence Project, the University of Chicago's
Exoneration Project, and the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth.
These groups all fought forcefully to convince Cook County prosecutors
to reevaluate the case in light of the fact that a different individual,
and convicted sex offender, was identified as the single-source of the
DNA taken from the victim.

In 1991, middle school student Cateresa Matthews went missing from
her grandmother's house in Dixmoor, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
Her body was recovered three weeks after she was reported missing. Cook
County investigators determined the victim had been raped and suffered a
gunshot wound to the mouth (Tarren 2011). Investigators collected DNA
evidence from the scene, which would prove to be the key to the
exoneration of the five young men--each of whom either plead guilty or
were convicted of the monstrous crime. The Dixmoor Five, as they were
dubbed by the press at the time of the tragic crime, consisted of James
Harden, Jonathan Barr, Robert Taylor, Robert Lee Veal, and Shainne
Sharp.

The case had gone cold, but "nearly a year after the murder,
the Illinois State Police interrogated Veal, a 15-year-old. After five
hours in police custody, Veal signed a written statement implicating
himself, Taylor, 15, Barr, 15, Harden, 17; and Sharp, 17." Shortly
after, Taylor also signed a written confession, and after 21 hours in
custody, Sharp did the same (Chicago News 2011).

According to the Chicago News, "In June 1994, before any of
the teenagers were tried, the Illinois State Police crime lab identified
a lone male DNA profile from sperm recovered from the victim's
body. Even though all five defendants were excluded as the source of the
semen, the prosecution pushed forward, rather than seeking the source of
the semen recovered from this young victim." Veal and Sharp plead
guilty and testified against the three other boys in exchange for a
reduced 20-year sentence. They have both been released after serving
approximately 10 years each. Meanwhile, their testimony was a critical
factor leading to the convictions of Taylor, Harden, and Barr, all of
whom remained incarcerated until Taylor's release last November.
Plans are being made to vacate the sentences of the remaining four men,
which will lead to the release of Barr and Harden.

The Dixmoor Five case is just one of dozens of wrongful conviction
cases in Illinois that has been made public in recent years. All of
these teens knew each other from school, including the victim. Defense
attorneys claim the teens who confessed were questioned relentlessly,
and at least one suspect was told that he could see his parents if he
signed the confession (Tarren 2011). Last year, Veal informed his
defense lawyers that he repeatedly told police he was not involved in
the murder but signed the confession believing that it contained the
details of his denials. Veal has been diagnosed with severe learning
disabilities, according to his attorney (Grimm, Mills 2011).

One month before Taylor's release, a new round of DNA evidence
testing was completed. When the profile was entered into the Illinois
State database, it matched Willie Randolph, a 33-year-old man at the
time of the 1991 rape and murder. In '91, Randolph had already been
convicted of a sexual assault and was paroled near the victim's
home. Still, state prosecutors argued against new trials for the men and
stated in court that the DNA match to the convicted rapist did not
amount to new evidence because the men were excluded by DNA at the trial
(Grimm, Mills 2011).

Craig Cooley, a staff attorney with the Innocence Project, stated,
"After months of offering up disingenuous arguments to delay
justice, we're relieved the State's Attorney's Office has
finally seen the light. This case is a classic example of tunnel vision
... facts should have sent up a red flag 20 years ago" (Chicago
News 2011). Randolph is currently under investigation for the 1991 rape
and murder of the young girl.

REFERENCES

Chicago News. Adapted from Adapted from a joint news release by the
University of Chicago's Exoneration Project, the Center on Wrongful
Convictions of Youth, and the Innocence Project. Law School's
Exoneration Project helps free wrongly convicted man. Retrived December
24, 2011, from http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2011/11/04/
law-schoo1039s-exoneration-project-helps-free-wrongly-convicted-man.